The commensal microbiota mediates skin barrier integrity and function via its effects on other microbes host cells of the skin. Sebum is a critical component skin’s chemical powerful determinant composition. To investigate relationship between sebaceous gland activity, we studied sebum secretion in germ-free (GF) mice. Compared to specific pathogen-free (SPF) control mice, release GF mice was r...

Dinoflagellates from the globally distributed genus Alexandrium are known to produce both paralytic shellfish toxins (PST) and uncharacterized bioactive extracellular compounds (BEC) with allelopathic, ichthyotoxic, hemolytic cytotoxic activities. In France, blooms of minutum appear generally during spawning period most bivalves. These could therefore alter gametes and/or larval development biv...

Mercury (Hg) is a ubiquitous and non-essential heavy metal that highly toxic to aquatic organisms. Few studies examine Hg its effects on wild fish populations. Here, we investigated the potential of exposure large long-lived marine species conservation concern, vulnerable Atlantic Goliath Grouper Epinephelus itajara. Our objectives were (1) measure (methyl-Hg; total = combined methyl-Hg inorgan...

Cancer patients often receive gonadotoxic treatments, such as radiation or certain chemotherapies. The doses and regimens used for treatment vary in different individuals and cancers. Recent progress has improved the survival rates of patients with cancer, often using highly aggressive therapies and combinations. This results in growing numbers of cancer survivors, some of whom will be sterile ...

In the United Kingdom the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) has statutory responsibility for regulating practice in the areas of assisted procreation and research on human embryos. As such it has an almost unique responsibility in the United Kingdom for ethical review of both clinical research and practice in a given field. It is therefore interesting to ask whether it has a u...

In principle, parental relatedness, parental age, and the age of parental gametes can all influence offspring fitness through inbreeding depression and the parental effects of organismal and postmeiotic gametic senescence. However, little is known about the extent to which these factors interact and contribute to fitness variation. Here, we show that, in Drosophila melanogaster, offspring viabi...

Gamete production for both males and females can be energetically expensive such that selection should maximize fertilization opportunities while minimizing fertilization costs. In laboratory studies of Drosophila reproduction, however, the failure of eggs to yield adult progeny can be quite high, suggesting that female control over gamete utilization is surprisingly inefficient. We examined ga...

In isogamous species of Chlamydomonas, such as Chlamydomonas reinhardtii and Chlamydomonas eugametos, the sexual process involves the use of flagella agglutinins by which the gametes of compatible strains adhere through chance encounter and ultimately pair and fuse to form zygotes. In a newly described heterogamous species, Chlamydomonas allensworthii, the sexual process is initiated by the che...

Different heritable expression-states were programmed into R alleles from R/R-1st heterozygotes under different temperature conditions applied during a developmental period in which flowering is induced. At maturity, R-allele expressions in test crosses of male gametes derived from R/R-1st seedlings raised 15 days in 32 degrees and continuous light conditions differed significantly from those o...